Can a DJI Phantom 4 Carry the Weight of an NYC Donut?

A day in the life of Krispyshorts is never a dull moment, or else it would be a bit hard to maintain a daily vlog. Our own CEO Alexandra Niki and Editor-in-Chief Billy Murray joined Krispyshorts and squad yesterday to hang a donut off a DJI Phantom 4 for a “fresh-fresh” photoshoot to go along with an upcoming article in the Winter 2017 issue of Resource Magazine.

However, capturing this photo was no easy feat. The weight of the Phantom 4 is only 1380 grams, which, for all of you who’ve never weighed a nug before, is around 3 pounds. On the other hand, the weight of an average NYC cake donut varies from 24 to 28 grams, depending on how generous your donut shop is with their icing. This particular donut was from Dough, a New York staple. Either way, it was safe to assume that a mere donut wouldn’t be too heavy for the drone to lift—and after a shaky start, we had lift off.

Photo by Billy Murray

And yet, we still faced the challenge of hanging the donut evenly from the drone. It was important that the weight of this gluten monster was distributed evenly, so the drone wouldn’t accidentally tip over to one side. In the end, we caught a hilarious shot of Krispy leaping up to bite the donut while his girlfriend, Romane, playfully flew the delicious snack just out of reach. You can check out the photo in the Winter 2017 issue of Resource Magazine, coming in mid-January, where Krispy gives us the latest scoop on his daily vlog, as well as tips for launching your own channel.

Later, we explored a loft sale, which is supposedly the only place in SoHo where you can rent a room for $500 (we’ve since confirmed that the price is $900) that isn’t infested with something; the only catch being friendship, which in this sometimes cold-hearted city, may be a deal breaker. That, the first snowfall of the year in NYC, and more, are all featured in today’s video, along with our team adjusting to being on the other side of the camera.